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Cyberknife perineal placement: excruciatingly painful.

I had 4 fiducials placed today through the perineal. It only took about 3 minutes for the actual placement. On a scale of 1-10 it was a 10.

To make this a positive , helpful post I would suggest you take whatever arm injected pain killer you are offered.

I was accompanied by someone to drive me home and so I was eligible to take the injection, but hearing it was a 2 minute procedure and a topical gel was placed on the area for a full hour before the treatment I assumed wrongly that the pain would be manageable.

I question why none of my health care professionals warned me of the potential pain? I was wondering if anyone had similar experiences? Am I over reacting?

Went to Cyber knife forum and found a thread, (too late for me though) about how painful this could be. Apparently there are different pre insertion methods, different sedations etc., and some questions as to the skill of the urologist. It was barbaric, although no lingering after effects.
My doc was the radiation oncologist, perhaps my first blunder.

Thanks for the info on this. I had my fiducials placed transrectally w/o difficulty, but this should be a warning to those who plan to do the placement via the perineum in the future.

I guess the reason the transrectal placement is preferred is that it's easier and less painful (since I don't believe there are any pain receptors in the rectum). Main downside is the risk of infection, which is what the cipro is for. Assume there is some risk of infection w/the perineum too but obviously less than when you poke holes through the rectum to reach the prostate.

Bottomline: Make sure to discuss the planned insertion methods and sedation techniques to make sure the pain is minimized before getting it done.

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